Consistent high rankings
Spider Battalion commissions top cadets

BY BARBARA FITZGERALD

At a time when the University is quickly collecting accolades—"hottest school in America for international education," "a top 25 best value," "Business School ranked in top 25 nationally," "M.B.A. program number 14 in the country"—Lt. Col. Doug Gillem, commanding officer of the University's ROTC program, wants to call attention to some other honors.

ROTC at Richmond has consistently ranked as one of the top Army Reserve Officer Training Corps programs in the country. "We last ranked 28th in the nation among 274 ROTC host Army programs," Gillem says. The Spider Battalion has in recent years also been named the top battalion in the 4th Brigade, which comprises 17 colleges in Virginia and North Carolina.

Richmond's program is a "host" because the Spider Battalion draws cadets from Richmond and five other area institutions: VCU, Longwood University, Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia Union University and Randolph-Macon College. Military science instructors often teach via video conferencing, though Richmond also hosts those students on campus for various training exercises.

Richmond ROTC is a four-year pre-commissioning program, and most students enter it their freshman year. The program graduates and commissions between 15-19 cadets each year. After commissioning, those second lieutenants can go almost anywhere in the world, depending upon which segment of the Army they aspire to enter, where the need for them is greatest, or whether they request an educational delay. Gillem says that for the past three years, 100 percent of the newly commissioned officers at Richmond who requested educational delays for law, medical or graduate school have been granted a delay of service.

A conversation with Gillem is peppered with statistical evidence of cadet achievement. "Our cadets have double the national average of excellence ratings," he says. "Those are the rankings determined at the Leadership Development and Assessment Course held annually at Ft. Lewis, Wash., at which our cadets compete against every ROTC cadet at every institution across the nation—last summer that was about 4,400 cadets."

The Spider Battalion is composed of students from Richmond and five other area colleges and universities.

At LDAC, cadets are evaluated on everything they have learned and done in the program, as well as their academic performance. High rankings translate into special summer training opportunities, such as six weeks of volunteer study and training at West Point, or much-sought-after extra slots to attend one of several volunteer adventure training schools.

The prize assignments are to schools where cadets train with real soldiers, such as Airborne School—there they learn to parachute—and Mountain Warfare or Air Assault School. Last year's LDAC rankings were so high for Richmond cadets that they received 175 percent of authorized slots, and in recent years have received up to 200 percent of authorized slots—or twice as many as the average college battalion earns.

LDAC rankings, in combination with a student's GPA, set a cadet up for commissioning, with high rankings making it possible for Richmond's cadets to consistently receive their first choice of Army branch. In 2006, 16 of 18 graduating seniors received their first choice Army branch assignment, and the previous year, all 21 graduates did. In 2007, 23 of 24 seniors received their first choice of branch.

Gillem and his staff work individually with cadets to ensure their success. "We want them to be nationally competitive while they're here," he says, "and more importantly, to leave here nationally competitive. We want them to be able to go to any post in the world."

Daniel McIntyre, '11, leans out on the 50-foot rappel tower at Ft. Lee, Va.

Cadets are well taken care of financially. "We provide full tuition," says Gillem, "and some are awarded room and board by the University as well. They get $1,200 a year for books and a $300-$500 monthly stipend. We do this because they are taking extra class work with us and doing physical training, and those extra hours may be the time they would have put into a job to earn spending money were they not in the program."

Cadets are encouraged to study abroad, and many do. ROTC provides financial support for that as well. Fifteen cadets in the last four years have studied abroad in countries such as Australia, Russia, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Cadet Michael Thompson, '08, from New Jersey, studied at Beijing University last year, traveled throughout China, learned some of the language, and decided he wants to eventually live abroad and pursue humanitarian work.

Gillem says he is impressed with the caliber of student, athlete and leader Richmond's ROTC program continues to attract and adds that credit for the program's honors goes to the cadets. "This is a cadet-planned, cadet-run operation. We give the parameters, and they do the organizational duties and provide leadership."

Gillem counts junior Riannon Blaisdell, a political science major from Virginia Beach, high among those leaders. She filled a slot for field training at West Point, along with Ryan Corken, a senior from Ohio. During that combat training, Baisdell says she shot every weapon in the Army's armory. "I rode on a tank, slept on the ground in the woods, got shot at—blanks, of course—and loved it. They really know their stuff there."

Corken had considered attending one of the service academies before deciding on Richmond. "I wanted a more rounded college experience," he says, "and I've had that here."

English major Jamie Donahue, a senior from Maryland, says he, too, has had a very normal college life. He's in a fraternity, likes to attend parties, and says the only difference is "most students don't get up early a couple mornings a week and do physical training. I know if I were not in ROTC, I would be badly out of shape."

Thompson, the cadet who studied in China, came to ROTC almost by chance. He was at Richmond on a pre-college visit and while walking around campus happened to pass Milhiser Gym where the military science department and ROTC are located. He stepped in, a staffer happened by and the ensuing conversation led him to sign up, though he admits his parents took some convincing. Now he says they are behind him.

"They can see the change in me. This program has forced me to become more disciplined. I hold myself to a new standard now."

Thompson, like Corken, selected the infantry as his first choice of branch. "That's the place where you have the most contact with soldiers. I joined this to learn to be a leader, and the infantry is where there's the greatest opportunity to lead."

Gillem acknowledges that, much like Thomas Jefferson wrote, an Army exists to fight and that a good part of ROTC training is preparation for combat leadership.

"Our training for the current operating environment is more than just the foundations of tactics. We understand well that the Army conducts humanitarian relief missions worldwide because our cadre has been a part of these duties. We've had a presence at Hurricane Andrew and on many other relief missions. We want to teach our cadets to provide selfless service to the nation in whatever capacity they are tasked."

Gillem says the University has been very supportive. "No matter what their personal thoughts on politics, people here understand the military is not a political entity and are supportive of the cadets who have decided to provide service to their nation in uniform. We are grateful for the support and the academic excellence here. We offer experiential leadership, but Richmond adds exactly the excellent education that the Army requires for the officer corps."